Council chief defended the decision to blow the cash on McArthur, who had previously worked on the Milly Dowler and Rhys Jones murder investigations.

Brendan Whitworth, Assistant Director For Legal, said: "To determine if Cllr Brierley swore, he having denied doing so, and thus to allow proper consideration of whether there was a breach of the code of conduct we decided to consult an audio expert.

"There was a cost attached to this but to ensure transparency and fairness we felt it important to have an independent opinion."

Cllr Brierley's alleged to have made a remark to Cllr Murphy that "was about his head and another part of his anatomy", according to Cllr Anita Thorpe.

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Mr McArthur told the code of conduct hearing Cllr Brierley said to the councillor: "Oh, I forgot it's you Mr Murphy, you d***head".

Mr McArthur added: "He (Coun Brierley) had the microphone very close to his mouth and it's a very clear recording. I have no problem with accents, I have lived around Manchester for a number of years and I understand the accent."

Asked by former monitoring officer Linda Fisher if Cllr Brierley could have said: "Oh, I forgot it's you Mr Murphy, you again", as the councillor claimed, Mr McArthur said: "Absolutely not, 100 per cent."

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An audio expert was brought in after Councillor Brierley denied swearing at a colleagueCredit: SWNS:South West News Service

The full investigation had cost the taxpayer £9,000, but council chiefs blamed Cllr Brierley for refusing to apologise at an early stage and not "engaging with the process".

Brierley was eventually found guilty of making the comment at the end of a 16-month legal process that cost taxpayers £9,000.

It's the seventh time the independent representative has breached the council's code of conduct in two years.

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